THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2927, 20 April 1910, Page 76

THE NATURALIST.

Elephants Chase Kicyclist. Cycling 1 in 'Rhodesia occasionally has the charm of adventure—if there is much charm in the excitement of the chase when the chased is the human- rider, A cyclist who was riding from Broken Hill to Ndala on the edge of a bush clearing almost ran into the hindquarters of a baby elephant—half a score hands high. “Yery likely I never got off my bike so quickly before, and I suppose both of us looked rather bamboozled. My new acquaintance gave me a long, doubtful look, and, screaming, ran toward home, or rather an old tusker and three cows browsing on the opposite end of the glade,” be said in telling of his adventure. In wonderment I stood rooted to the spot. The wind was blowing toward me, and the bull, a magnificent monster, swung his trunk to and fro through the air to smell me out. It appears that elephants cannot see very far; besides, the sun was right against them. As soon as the now whimpering youngster arrived by his protectors they fumbled with their trunks ail over him to find out what was wrong, uttering the while a curious rumbling noisq through the' long nostril. “By this time I thought it was time to return. In swinging my cycle around, some dry twigs broke under me with sharp cracks. The puzzled bull stood for a moment motionless, with his huge ears extended like some topgallant sails; then, as he heard the chink of the metal through my mounting the bike, the huge animal lurched forward with a grunt that rumbled as distant thunder down his big trunk. “ I waited no longer, but pedalled for dear life, and wonder even now bow I dodged the many obstacles on the 12-foot path. “ Behind me came a crashing of trees. T did net look back, but put cm, as it were more steam, until, after a retreat of some four miles, hearing nothing more, I nearly came a neat cropper over an ancient tree sturrip. “ Still a trifle flurried. .. dismounted, but except the sighing of the forest and the buzzing of tsetse flies there was no other sound. A few miles behind my carriers came bellowing along with their peculiar swinging gait. As I believed the yarn of those elephants might frighten them further “mum” was the word. “ However, I halted cm pretence of desiring a rest, and after an hour’s delay we all start-ed once more. My cycle enabled me to scout cautiously in advance, but, as I expected, the elephants bad gone to some more sequestered sylvan retreat, and nothing more was seen of them.” —Rhodesia Herald.

Concerning" the Elephant's Intelligence. The trunk of the elephant was called "a band" by old writers, and it seems to have acted in the development of the elephant's intelligence in the same way as man's hand has in regard to his mental growth, though in a less degree. T'he Indian elephant has a single tactile and grasping projection (sometimes called "a finger") placed above between the two nostrils at the end of the trunk; the African elephant has one above and onebelow. I have seen the elephant pick up with this wonderful trunk with equal facility a heavy man and then a threepenny - piece. The intelligence of the elephant is sometimes .exaggerated by reports and stories; sometimes it is not sufficiently estimated'. It is not fair to compare the intelligence of the elephant with that of the dcg—bred and trained by man for thousands of years. So far as one oan judge, there is no wild

1 amnjal, ■excepting the higher apes,. which exhibits so much and so varied intelligence os the elephant. The elephant—like man standing on his hind legs—has a wide survey of things around him owing to his height. He can take time to allow of cerebral intervention in his actions since he is so large that he has little cause to be afraid and to hurry. Ho has a fine and delicate exploring organ in his trunk, with its hand-like termination; with this he can and does experiment and builds up his individual knowledge and experience. Elephants act together in the wild state, aiding one another to uproot trees too liar.ge° for one to deal with alone. They readily understand and accept the guidance of man, and with very small persuasion and teaching execute very dexterous work—such as piling of timber. If man had selected the mare .intelligent elephants for breeding over a space of a couple of thousand years a prodigy of animal intelligence would have resulted. But man has never “bred” the elephant afc all.—Sir Ray Lankester, in the Telegraph. What Colour Means in fats. j The acuteness of the average oat’s sense of hearing is proverbial, but it is a proverb that needs qualifying. For example (says a writer in the Scotsman) many white cats are absolutely deaf, and, though the idea may appear absurd at first sight, I am inclined to believe that the colour of a cat is associated with its sense of hearing. I have several times imported Persians, or long-haired cats, from abroad, but not one white one in the number has been able to hear the slightest sound. Of course, 1 have possessed white cats that could hear, but they have been the exception, and that applies as much to the short-hair pet | of the fireside as to the aristocratic longi hair of the shows.' Moreover, I have observed that the white cats dullest .of hearing are those with bine eyes. The cats with orange eyes which I have had could hear quite well; those haying odd eyes—that is, one orange and one blue—could hear a little, but, not well; and those having blue eyes were quite deaf—though all have come from the same litter. All kittens have blue eyes till they arc. about six weeks old, when the' eyes change to their adult, or permanent, colour. But to show how widely the permanently blue eye differs to begin with from othe. eyes, I may say that immediately the eyes of white cats that are to have permanently blue eyes open, they will shine bright red in the dark, and neither the 'ephemeral, kitten blue, nor any other colour of eye does ; this. One peculiarity of deaf cats is that they seem to have ah exaggerated sense of feeling in their feet-pads. It is very difficult for a heavy-walking animal, such as a maa to approach a deaf cat from behind without giving it warning, and this I attribute to the extreme sensitiveness of the oat’s feet recording the slightest tremor of the ground, and so, to a certain extent, taking the place of hearing. It is a belief held by some country people that white cats do not make good hunters, good mouse or rat catchers, even if they do hear. I am inclined to think that there is a foundation for this idea, and I would go further, and 1 say that dark-coloured cats make the best mouse and rat catchers, because they hear best.

Birds’ Sense of Direction. The migratory instinct in birds is combined with another equally mysterious: that of the sense of direction. A gentleman who is engaged in scientific research work for the Fishery Board, on board the Government steamboat Goldseeker, records in the Scotsman a very interesting observation hr made of this characteristic of migratory bird life. An oyster-catcher that was being buffeted by a head wind in its eastern flight across the North Sea towards the Continental shores alighted on the boat. It took kindly to the attention paid to it so long as the boat kept its eastern course. But when the cours of the boat was altered a few points to the northward, the bird immediately showed signs of uneasiness, and 'after an apparent consideration of its bearings, flew into the darkness of the night on its east-bound course. The alteration in the boat’s course was revealed to those who were watching 1 the bird only when the compass was examined.